BJP slams Rahul Gandhi for forgetting Narasimha Rao’s birthday

The row over not Rahul Gandhi paying tribute to former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on his birth centenary may appear somewhat frivolous but it’s not. It actually highlights the Nehru-Gandhi family’s attitude towards a great prime minister and a luminary of the party it controls. Thus, Narasimha Rao’s grandson’s and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s criticism of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his (Gandhi’s) failure to remember the former prime minister is not petty politicking.

The GOP’s first family has never been comfortable with Rao’s policies and feats. By liberalizing the economy, he did away with the basic structure of Nehruvian socialism, even though capitalism was not fully embraced, as should have been the case. Yet, the economic reforms of 1991 were monumental in conception and momentous in consequences. The liberalization was rightly called as ‘second independence,’ for the wealth creators were largely, though not completely, unshackled. For this very reason, however, the first family never forgave Rao.

In Nehru-Gandhis’ scheme of things, the people of India, certainly its entrepreneurs and industrialists, were in dire need of an enlightened tutelage, which undoubtedly only the Nehru-Gandhis and their courtiers, hangers-on, and toadies could provide. Rao had let loose ‘blood-sucking, profit-maximizing capitalists’ who would exploit the poor, compromise with multinational corporations (modern-day East India Companies actually), and destroy the nation.

Exactly the opposite happened: tens of millions of the poor were lifted out of poverty, Indian companies themselves became MNSs, and in general the living standards improved.

This, however, did very little to endear him to the first family, thus stalling his rehabilitation in the GOP. To be fair to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, they did write congratulatory letters to the Telangana unit of the party for organizing a year-long celebration on Rao’s birth centenary.

“The birth centenary of Narasimha Rao is an occasion for us to recall and pay tribute to the scholarly and erudite personality,” Sonia Gandhi’s message said. “After a long career in state and national politics, he became Prime Minister of India at a time of grave economic crisis. Through his bold leadership, our country was able to overcome many challenges successfully. The Union Budget of July 24, 1991, paved the way for the economic transformation of our country.”

This was, however, too little and too late. Quite apart from neglecting Rao, the family-led Congress also ensured that when the former prime minister died in December 2004 he body was not let into the Congress headquarters. This was spite, pure and simple.

Such being the matrix of the Rao-family relationship, it was not surprising that Rahul didn’t bother to pay tributes to Rao. This angered Rao’s grandson and BJP leader N.V. Subhash. He said, “Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and other Congress leaders didn’t pay tributes to late PV Narsimgh Rao because he was from south India and not from Gandhi family. Whereas, PM Narendra Modi sent a letter and paid floral tribute to him.”

The BJP didn’t lose the opportunity to take a potshot at the GOP. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy tweeted: “So busy is Shri  @RahulGandhi that he has “forgotten” to pay tributes to Sri #PVNarasimhaRao Garu on his 100th Jayanti. Sri PVNR was a lifelong Congressman, yet appalling to see how one dynasty tramples over his legacy. Such political untouchability is distasteful & unfortunate.”

There may be hyperbole and opportunism in these remarks but there is also a kernel of truth in them.